At 3:45 AM on June 6, 1918, two companies of the 5th Marines of the 2nd Infantry Division charged across no man's land into German gunfire at Belleau Wood, where the Germans had driven to their farthest advance toward Paris after their final offensive of March 1918 broke through battered British and French forces. America had entered the war in 1917 on the side of Britain and France, and by May German guns were shelling Paris, with French reservists and newly arrived American divisions standing in the way. The 2nd and 3rd Infantry were positioned near Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood. On June 1 and 2, the 5th Marines, the first men of the 2nd Infantry Division to arrive, fought off German assaults from crude rifle pits, and on June 3 and 4 the rest of the division moved up. An assault planned for June 6 sought to capture Belleau Wood and nearby Hill 142. The attack on Hill 142 succeeded, but in the wood the 2nd Infantry gained only a toehold in the southern part, suffering as many as 60 percent casualties in some battalions. Another attack on June 8 failed, but on June 10, with massive artillery support, the marines swept through the wood and gained some ground. German counterattacks and gas raids battered the marines, and another attack on June 22 still did not clear the wood. Finally, after a 14-hour bombardment followed by an intense attack, the 2nd Infantry Division broke the German defenses, and Belleau Wood was officially declared "Marine Corps Property." The battle was the first major battle of U.S. forces on European soil, and the 2nd Infantry Division, parts of the 5th Marines, and the U.S.S. Belleau Wood are presented as continuing that legacy of American defense.
